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Bridge closed off for now...lots of rescue personnel on the scene. Hope whoever it is survived that. I can't imagine being the guy behind him and watching the car in front of you drive off the bridge in to the water.

Man and woman in the vehicle. I saw an earlier report where a witness said the vehicle slammed on brakes, swerved, and went off the bridge. I wonder if they were fighting in the vehicle and then lost control.

Man and woman in the vehicle. I saw an earlier report where a witness said the vehicle slammed on brakes, swerved, and went off the bridge. I wonder if they were fighting in the vehicle and then lost control.

So very sad all around.

Aren't their barricades or sides to the bridge that prevent this? Been a while since I've been on Blossom Street.

The river is actually pretty high right now. Riverfront Park is closed because the water is pouring over some parts of the trail. I can't recall a time where I have seen the river higher than it is now.

__________________
"I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" - Philippians 4:13

Not trying to derail the thread but take a look as you travel around the state or country. Notice how guard rail guidelines (height mostly) have not changed in years. Here locally in Mississippi, yes I know its Mississippi but on I-20-I-59-I-55-I-10 a lot of places that need them don't even have guard rails. The bigger problem is that with today's trucks, SUV and crossovers a slight increase in speed or hard turn of the wheel sends you sailing over the low guard rails. On one part of the Ross Barnett Dam 4 SUV's went over the rails into the water, rails to low for higher top heavy vehicles. They after saying no money to replace, found money after the first lawsuit was filed.

That man and woman last night did not stand a chance according to reports.

I've driven, rode a bike, or walked over that bridge many times (not to mention floated under it) and wondered when/if this was going to happen. Sorta ironic - I found a license plate on the river bottom years ago right where it looks like they went over.

__________________"A nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its laws made by cowards and its wars fought by fools." - Thucydides

Been across many bridges but the Blossom St. one has always been scary to me. People drive way to fast on it and it's a tight squeeze.

When did a 4 lane highway with a walking path become a tight squeeze? You sure as heck wouldn't want to go over some of the bridges in the country. That guard rail is most likely just there to prevent pedestrians from falling off, not cars. Sad to see nonetheless.

As KT mentions, they took out the entire concrete side to the bridge, which really is no higher than the hood of an SUV like the one that went over.

I go over that bridge all the time getting to Carolina Stadium, and in my little Kia, I can easily see over the sides driving by. They aren't very high.

Yeah, I have to go over the bridge every day (live just on the other side of it in West Cola) and have walked over it a number of times and the shortness of the concrete rails is surprising once you walk up to it. They're high enough to go just passed the midpoint of the average man(I'm 5'11" so that's about what I consider average) but I've always thought that if you were on a bike, you could easily accidentally scrape the rail and go over.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hellraiser24

The river is actually pretty high right now. Riverfront Park is closed because the water is pouring over some parts of the trail. I can't recall a time where I have seen the river higher than it is now.

The levels now aren't as high anymore, believe it or not. This was the first thing I thought, because the normal levels are maybe 3-4' beneath the bridge, but from Monday-Wednesday it was significantly higher, like you said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rioninusc

When did a 4 lane highway with a walking path become a tight squeeze? You sure as heck wouldn't want to go over some of the bridges in the country. That guard rail is most likely just there to prevent pedestrians from falling off, not cars. Sad to see nonetheless.

They're referring to the Gervais bridge, which is incredibly narrow and the one I thought this type of accident might occur on.

Two people died, a 35 year old male and a 40 year old female. The lady actually survived the fall and was taken to the hospital and died there. The man was still in the car and was dead when they found him. They wrecked about 9:45pm and they pulled the car out around 1:30am.